Damn it, I'm in the garbage book I wrote

Chapter 660 Don't talk nonsense.

After seeing off the Khan of the steppe, Emperor Jingtai held in his hand a treaty that was somewhat humiliating and detrimental to the steppe.

He sat in the chair, looking down at the treaty bearing the two official seals, and then burst into unrestrained laughter.

"Father, do you see? What you couldn't do, your son has accomplished!"

After he finished speaking, his laughter turned into crying, and his sobs turned into loud wailing.

"Father! Did you see that!?"

From the time of Emperor Hongbao onwards, everyone said that the Great Wei was incompetent. But at least Emperor Hongbao did not cause the country to fall apart. However, after Emperor Jingtai ascended the throne, not only did the country fall apart, but he was also criticized as being as frivolous as the former Jin dynasty, accused of being complacent and useless.

Every child spends their entire life seeking their father's approval, and now he has finally taken the most solid step forward, reclaiming two and a half grassland provinces. This is a small step for him, but a giant leap for the entire Great Wei.

Seeing the emperor's state, no one stepped forward to comfort him; they simply retreated silently to the side. They understood the state of the Great Wei Dynasty over the years and knew how incompetent the emperor was. It was only now that he was able to finally hold his head high, and anyone in his position would find it difficult to remain composed.

After crying for a while, Emperor Jingtai leaned back in his chair, tilted his head back, and took a deep breath. He was now very clear about one thing: the empire's face needed to be supported by substance. If it weren't for the great victory at Huangyaguan, and if it weren't for the Jinling Training Corps' 3,000-mile march, this negotiation would certainly not have gone so smoothly.

After a while, Emperor Jingtai washed his face and then went to inspect the food situation at the Handan Military Affairs Office with his hands behind his back. It must be said that since Emperor Jingtai came to Handan, the food in the army has improved a lot.

What do those soldiers want? They just want to support their families and have a decent meal. They have no principles, only self-interest. Whoever feeds them well, that's who they'll side with.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the scholars in the new army seized every second to begin converting the original soldiers in Handan. At that time, Li Mi actually knew that his situation was hopeless, because in the more than one month of negotiations, almost all of his soldiers had been converted.

What does this mean? It means that now, with a single order from the emperor, these soldiers he himself raised can turn their guns on him.

Li Mi was helpless, but he had heard of it before. In the early years, when the Green Forest Army was suppressing Buddhism and quelling rebellions in the Central Plains, they were like this. Wherever they went, they would transform into their own forces. Those who were once considered broken and dilapidated remnants of the army became incredibly powerful once they joined their ranks. These were the most ferocious killers, and they were also highly loyal. They would charge into battle without even flinching.

Li Mi had never understood this matter, but after observing them for several days after they arrived in Handan, he finally understood and realized that his defeat was probably not unjust.

This team is not only brave and capable of winning, but also has iron discipline and systems. However, discipline and systems alone cannot make people maintain themselves through self-discipline. One of their most important qualities is treating people as human beings.

Emperor Jingtai was the emperor, and when there was nothing to do, he would eat with the soldiers in the military camp from the same pot, wearing ordinary military uniforms. Even as the supreme ruler, he could chat with those old ruffians about the romances of various places.

If even an emperor acts this way, the officers below him naturally wouldn't dare to do anything else. Their military promotion mechanism is also very clear: even if they don't go to the battlefield, even if they just feed pigs and grow vegetables in the barracks, as long as they complete their tasks diligently, they can get promoted.

"Tomorrow is the end of the old year, and this year the Great Wei will have good fortune. How about this, Commander Li?"

Emperor Jingtai leaned against the outside of the pigsty and said to Li Mi, "How about I pay for everyone in Handan to have a meal?"

Li Mi was stunned: "..."

"Grand Commander, do not panic. This is the proper course of action." Emperor Jingtai lay on the pigpen, looking at the money inside. "This time, the grasslands have paid 12 million taels of silver in reparations. Part of this silver will be used for military expenses, part will be collected into the national treasury, and the remaining part will naturally be distributed. However, it is not appropriate to give this silver to anyone."

He smiled and said, "Why don't I host a feast and invite everyone in the city to have a good New Year?"

"But Your Majesty..."

Li Mi's tone was now incredibly respectful. This emperor, whom he used to disregard, was now beyond his comprehension. He was not only like an emperor, but an unfathomable one.

"No more 'buts,' go and get things done." Emperor Jingtai raised his hand, interrupting Li Mi's next attempt to refuse.

"Your Majesty, the city's supplies are insufficient to sustain us. Please do not be overly ambitious."

"Is he so eager for quick success?"

"I deserve to die ten thousand times... but there are indeed no supplies in the city."

Emperor Jingtai glanced at him with a cold laugh, but said nothing and turned to leave. Li Mi knew he had said the wrong thing, but he really had no choice. The supplies in Handan were running low. Emperor Jingtai had already emptied his coffers by demanding so much, and now there was absolutely nothing left. If it weren't for the New Army's excellent logistics, Handan would be running out of food by now.

But now the emperor has issued an order to have the whole city celebrate the New Year? How will he celebrate? Will he dig up the dead who have already been buried and cook meat porridge for them? Li Mi felt a surge of irritation at this thought, but he dared not plead with Emperor Jingtai. He could only grit his teeth and prepare to disobey the order.

Even a skilled cook can't cook without rice; he had absolutely nothing on hand, so what could he do?
But that very afternoon, as Li Mi stood atop the city wall, agonizing over whether to jump off and end it all, he suddenly saw the flags of a merchant caravan approaching in the distance.

He rubbed his eyes in disbelief, but upon closer inspection, it really was a caravan...

The caravan, consisting of seventeen families from Jinling, twenty-four from Jiangnan, and even nine from the Li Tang dynasty, stretched for dozens of miles, seemingly endless, with the number of caravan members exceeding one hundred thousand.

They arrived at the city of Handan and began registering to enter. Then they quickly unloaded their goods outside the official granary, which was now under the control of the new army. Immediately, an accountant from the army ran over to record the transactions.

The fact that three million taels of goods had to be transported to the city within a single day and then distributed to the people demonstrated not only efficiency but also astonishing coordination.

There are approximately 300,000 soldiers and civilians in Handan City at present, and each person is to be allocated ten taels of silver worth of supplies.

How much supplies does ten taels of silver contain? Roughly one hundred catties of various kinds of rice and flour, twenty catties of various kinds of fish and meat, various kinds of mountain products, fruits and canned goods, plus an eight-catty cotton quilt and two hundred catties of coal.

Li Mi didn't dare blink as he watched the soldiers load the supplies onto trucks and distribute them to different areas. At first, the people were very scared and didn't dare to accept them, fearing it might be a trap. After all, this was something that had never happened before. They were already grateful that the soldiers hadn't oppressed them in the past, but now they were being given supplies.
But soon those who really couldn't survive accepted these things. After all, they were all ordinary people from the lower classes. With the war and sieges these days, life was really hard. They had almost eaten all the tree bark and were about to starve. Suddenly, supplies that could last them until spring arrived. If there was a trap, they would be killed whether they faced it or not. Since they were going to die anyway, they might as well die with a full stomach.

But after they received their gifts and took them home to enjoy a delicious meal with their families, they suddenly received a notification from the village chief saying that everyone in the family would receive a share...

It is not distributed according to the number of households, but according to the number of registered residents.

Those people who were on the verge of starvation found their homes overflowing with belongings in just one afternoon; they felt like they were dreaming. And no one came to take their lives. Upon inquiring, they learned that His Majesty the Emperor was hosting a banquet for the entire city, apologizing for his years of neglect and wishing the people of Handan a prosperous new year.

This caused an uproar throughout Handan. On the morning of New Year's Eve, tens of thousands of people knelt outside the residence where Emperor Jingtai was staying and shouted "Long live the Emperor!"

This feeling even carried a sense of fanatical worship. Emperor Jingtai didn't dare to go out; he just stuck his butt out and peeked through the crack in the door.

"oops……"

He turned to Jinlian and said, "This is the first time I've felt this way, it's truly..."

"Your Majesty, is there anything else you haven't done?"

"What's the matter?"

Jinlian's eyes darted around: "Think about how Lord Xia did it?"

"Oh! Yes, yes!"

Emperor Jingtai opened the door and stepped outside. The clamor of the people outside instantly subsided into a murmur. He simply removed his crown and waved it: "Stand up! No kneeling! From this day forward, the people will only kneel to Heaven and Earth, to their parents. Rise!!!"

This shout was probably the most manly moment of Emperor Jingtai's life. He stood there with his head held high, watching the people go from boiling over to being completely silent, and then they all stood up from the ground, looking at each other in bewilderment.

Emperor Jingtai did not explain, but shouted: "This is what I should do, but it has only happened once in many years. I am the one who has lost money for you. Why should you kneel for me? Please wait a little longer. I will work even harder to create a peaceful and prosperous world for you all!"

The crowd below erupted in cheers. Some still wanted to kneel, but Emperor Jingtai stopped them with a gesture. He then pressed his hand down, and the scene fell silent once more.

"The supplies have arrived today. Everyone, please eat and drink. Later, I will take a stroll around. If I happen to come across any of your homes, please let me try your family's specialty dishes."

Li Mi stood to the side with his eyes downcast, not daring to utter a single word. Emperor Jingtai's move was simply outrageous. It is said that water can carry a boat but also capsize it. Now Emperor Jingtai had merged himself into the water, becoming the biggest wave.

It's no exaggeration to say that if he were to say "Li Mi is an evil spirit" right now, the people on the scene would pounce on him and eat him raw without any sauce.

That's amazing...that's amazing.

How did they come up with this method of governing the people...?

(End of this chapter)